


Like nobody else

by withered



Series: Who's been lovin' you good? [14]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky exploits loopholes, Bucky takes care of Tony, Bucky tries to be a good person, M/M, Not Clint Friendly, Not Wanda Friendly, Pet Names, Pre-WinterIron, Reality makes Bucky sad, Team is not family, The Avengers Have Issues, Tony makes him sad, but the suggestion is there, not on purpose, references to previous entries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 10:19:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15046748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withered/pseuds/withered
Summary: After finally having a full day off for what felt like the first time in years, Tony epiphany-ed way too late for a genius of his caliber, “Do you think he’s getting my guard down because he wants to murder me?”“He would’ve done it by now,” Friday mused.“That should comfort me, and yet…”





	Like nobody else

 

Tony barely registered the time on the microwave in the kitchen as 02:29, and even then, his overly exhausted mind had only huffed before dumping an entire tray of eight used coffee-mugs into the dishwasher.

He vaguely noted that there were people wafting in the living room, but he hardly cared for who.

Most of his houseguests usually left the room on principle.

Honestly, it made life much easier, no matter how depressed it secretly made him that his former teammates choose to freeze him out after everything they'd been through. Though Tony wasn’t in the right frame of mind to think about that, all he wanted was to pass out for a few hours – and the presence of any combination of the Rogues held no weight in his consideration to pass out in the common area’s living room.

It _was_ still his Tower after all.

“Finally had enough?”

Hearing that drawl usually had him stiffening up, though two months since Barnes’ arrival, Tony had it down to a tense. _Progress._ “What of it?” he grumbled back, face already mushed up against one of the throw pillows.

“Nothin’, just wanna know if you need me to wake you up or if this is just a cat-nap.”

Someone else huffed, and even through crusty half-lidded eyes, Tony caught the flicker of red and then heard the heavy footfalls of an overdramatic exit.

 _Ah_ , he allowed himself the small smile. It's always a good time to annoy the shit out of people, dead tired or not.

Turning his attention to the remaining person in the living room, Tony took stock of the Super Soldier’s soft-looking sweatpants and the off-grey Stark Industries shirt exposed thanks to the open zipper of his jacket, the material hanging limply at his sides as his arms rested on the back of the couch in what looked to be a mock of a waiting embrace, Tony delighted in the sudden thought that occurred to him, “Did I interrupt a rendezvous, Red October?”

From his spot in the corner of the couch, Barnes snorted. “If you interrupted anything, doll, it was a murder.”

“Oh?” Tony squinted at him. “I hope you weren’t planning to do it here – I have a strict, _no blood in common areas,_ rule.”

The man tilted his head thoughtfully. “So, you want me to get creative, is what I’m hearing?”

He huffed out a laugh.

-

-

-

When Tony woke up in his own bed, startled to find that he wasn’t in the living room, he hadn’t thought too much of it. He, somehow, managed to even ignore the fact that he was wearing a jacket to bed that he didn’t even own.

-

-

-

It was a bad idea.

But also, “Right there, ugh – did I swap out your metal fingers for those handheld massage things because _wow_.” Tony exhaled in relief as Barnes ran his digits into Tony’s hair.

Tony wasn’t even sure how they got into his position.

He thought it might be because Barnes had taken to commandeering the couch in the ‘shop, and Tony, migraine pounding in his skull from another of Maximoff’s temper tantrums, overestimated the distance of his flop and landed up with his head on Barnes’ lap.

Not that the Super Soldier seemed to mind. Less then a second after, Barnes was petting his head and –

“’fraid you can’t take any of the credit, sugar.”

“Can too, who made the arm?”

Above him, Barnes snorted. 

A few minutes later, Barnes prodded in a tease, "You been working too hard again, darlin'?"

"I wish," he huffed. "You try dealing with the human equivalent to Scarlet Fever."

Tony really should have thought better of that full--body pause.

-

-

-

A couple of hours later, Maximoff was in the med bay. 

“Food poisoning,” Barnes informed, appropriately grave.

Tony raised his brow causing the Super Soldier's expression to drop and a scowl to take it's place as Barnes huffed, “You said no blood.”

-

-

-

After finally having a full day off for what felt like the first time in years, Tony epiphany-ed way too late for a genius of his caliber, “Do you think he’s getting my guard down because he wants to murder me?”

“He would’ve done it by now,” Friday mused.

“That should comfort me, and yet…”

-

-

-

His first normal enough response to a walking-talking human-equivalent of a wrecking ball being around _exactly_ when Tony needed him, happened a few days after.

 “Don’t give me that look, coffee is not considered a food group.”

Granted, it was rather depressing to immediately be suspicious of any form of kindness offered to him, but what else was he supposed to think when Barnes – in addition to _apparently carrying him to bed, and petting his head when he didn’t feel good and going for some innocent revenge,_ also happened to be bringing Tony’s meals in what was probably a regular basis considering how the bots greeted him at the doors?

“- and don’t even try and sell me that ‘I’m not hungry’ shit,” the former Hydra assassin continued, unaware or completely ignoring Tony’s wary look. “you wouldn’t be thinkin’ about licking that carbonator otherwise.”

“First of all, what I do with my tongue is none of your business,” he retorted peevishly, though couldn’t be prevented from his stomach giving an interested growl at the plate set before him. Something his newest houseguest had obviously heard from the shit-eating smirk playing at his mouth. Stupid Super Soldier hearing. Tony scowled. “I was going to eat.”

Barnes rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’m sure that carbonator had all the protein you needed.”

“Don’t knock it ‘til you try it, Terminator,” he replied, begrudgingly grateful that in the three months since the Rogues’ return to US soil, Barnes heeded Tony’s _I don’t like being handed things_ complex, before tugging the plate closer. “Second of all, _you’re the one bringing my food in every day_?”

“Didya think your plates just _appeared_?” Tony quirked a brow at him, and to his credit, the Super Soldier shifted, looking a little uncomfortable. “You gotta eat sometime.”

“I’ve got shakes.” And as if on cue, DUM-E began blending something in the background.

The discomfort shifted to annoyance, accompanying an eye roll. “That ain’t a food group either.”

“We can fight about that later, my spaghetti’s getting cold.”

Rolling his eyes once more, Barnes leaned against the workbench across from him and nodded at the prototype on the surface, brows furrowing in interest. “What’s that?”

Between bites, Tony explained with gusto, singlehandedly waving holograms and bringing up blueprints in demonstration – unaware that misdirection worked one time out of two, and a fifty percent pass rate was more than enough to distract Tony.

-

-

-

That being said: just because he could be diverted didn’t mean he forgot.

Tony was simply gathering the data, and with Friday staying mum on the subject of the Winter Soldier, Tony was more invested in it than he cared to admit. After all, of everyone in the Tower and amongst the Rogues, Bucky Barnes was the last person Tony expected any kind of relationship with outside of the saving-the-world business.

That the review of the past three months’ surveillance feed only confused him further, didn’t help matters, so Tony went straight to the source, “If you’re trying to get a babysitting gig, I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Winter Wonderland, but I’m on the wrong side of forty.”

“Don’t know what you mean.”

“Uh huh,” he nodded along, the picture of patience, but somehow still managing to convey how unconvinced he was, “so making sure I’m sleeping and dealing with my whiny ass and bringing me food is…what?”

“Being a decent human being?”

“ _Right.”_

Barnes looked incredulous and gestured vaguely above them. “Are you tellin’ me non’of’em ever did that for you?”

“Not without wanting something in return,” Tony informed with a shrug. “So, let’s have it: You’ve been laying it on pretty thick, must be something big if you’re willing to play the long game. We don’t have an exact date for the apocalypse so I kind of need to get the ball rolling on your Christmas wish-list.”

For a moment, his declaration only bore baffled silence, and then, “I don’t want anythin’ from you, Tony.”

“Hah.”

“Stop,” Barnes continued, waving an impatient hand at him. “You’re making me sad.”

He snickered. “Relax Metal-Man, it’s nothing new.”

“Which makes it sadder,” his companion informed with a scowl, and then, to Tony’s bafflement, he began to pace. “You give them everything – and I know it’s tense now, but it couldn't've always been like this - and they’ve never…what the hell?”

“Welcome to my world, Toy Soldier.” He lifted his fork with a single meatball pierced through the prong in a mock-toast.

Still clearly baffled, Barnes declared in a stutter, “That’s…that’s crazy.”

“Part one of why I go to therapy.”

It took another moment to recover before the Winter Soldier realized in a horrified whisper, “They don’t even thank you.”

Tony shrugged. “In their defense, I don’t do well with positive reinforcement.”

“That’s a goddamn lie,” Barnes deadpanned, and Tony snorted.

“Listen, we’ve only been kosher for three months, I don’t think -”

“You make the greatest things,” Barnes interrupted firmly. “They’re intelligent and cleverly designed, and they take in every possible preference and blind-spot. You make things that improve people’s lives, make them happy and keep them safe, and yet of all the awards you’re proud of in honor of that, it’s that drawer full of kids’ drawings!”

“Hey,” he said weakly, “that’s private shit, Barnes.”

“But they make you happy, don’t they?” Not even waiting for Tony’s brain to reconnect, Barnes got right in his face as he pointed out, “See, you’re blushing, and your pupils are dilating.”

“And how do you know that that isn’t just because I think you’re hot shit and I’m down to go to bone town?” Barnes snorted, though Tony mentally filed away the blush on his cheeks before plowing on, “Is there a point to all this?”

“Yes, goddamnit, doll, no one should be treating you like shit, least of all them.”

“Well I’d love to see you convince them,” Tony said, rather ill-advisedly ignoring the determined glint in Barnes’ eyes as the engineer polished off his plate.

When Barnes said nothing, only continued to stare straight ahead, murder face up to eleven, Tony delicately dabbed at his mouth with the hem of his greased shirt and reminded, “Whatever you’re thinking, just remember: no blood in the common areas.”

-

-

-

 “I can feel you judging me, babydoll.”

Tony opened his mouth.

“And,” Barnes interrupted, “you said no blood in the common areas, this is a hallway.”

 “Well, people frown on body slamming others in hallways.”

“Really?” Barnes asked, doing a pretty good job of expressing his surprise.

“No," Tony snorted, "but to be fair I highly doubt there was ever an occasion where they needed to make it a social norm."

Annoyed, his companion put his hands on his hips like an upset housewife. “Did I or did I not stick to parameters?”

“Move Barton’s foot, and…yeah, there you go! Gold star!" Tony applauded before quirking his brows. "You sure I can’t interest you in an upgrade?”

Barnes sighed. “Stop talkin’ Tony, you’ll make me sad again.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, I have no idea what I'm doing.  
> [Click here if you want to find out more about my work](https://everything-withered.tumblr.com/)


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